Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2005

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19th CHOGM
Opening	25 November 2005
Closing	27 November 2005
Location	Valletta, Malta
Chair	Lawrence Gonzi

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2005 was the nineteenth Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in Valletta, Malta, between 25 November and 27 November 2005, and hosted by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.

The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group put much emphasis on the position held by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, and overcame opposition from Pakistan to declare that his holding the two positions of President and Chief of Army Staff were "incompatible with the basic principles of democracy and the spirit of the Harare Commonwealth principles" and that "until the two offices are separated, the process of democratization will not be irreversible".^[1]

Of note to commentators and the media was the non-discussion of Uganda,^[1] where opposition leader Kizza Besigye was arrested days before the CHOGM, and two months before the country's first multiparty elections since Yoweri Museveni took power in 1986. Uganda's capital, Kampala, had been arranged to host the 2007 CHOGM, and the Commonwealth leaders were keenly aware that to hold the CHOGM in a country that was deemed undemocratic would reflect badly on the Commonwealth Secretariat and undermine the Commonwealth's commitment to human rights and good governance.^[1]